


Demons (Don't) Lie

by fjordfocus



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, canon adjacent for now at least, no set relationships yet but i have some ideas, undead? kinda? but also not really?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 18:49:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16645787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fjordfocus/pseuds/fjordfocus
Summary: The tiefling Kairo Axure died years ago, but rather than being sent to the Nine Hells as per the conditions of his contract with the Lord of the Fifth, Levistus, he wound up in Tal'Dorei. Something intercepted his soul in transport, and while his pact with his patron is still technically active, it seems to have transferred to a different being, the nature of which he does not fully understand - though as he's been around now for twenty years, just catching the tail end of Vox Machina's exploits, and hasn't aged a day, he can guess that this being is making sure he's kept alive and well for reasons unknown.Now he travels with a certain Captain Avantika, having been aboard the Squall Eater for a good five years, and things are going well. Until a group of newcomers shows up and suddenly his life gets turned around. Apparently his patron has plans for him, and they involve this group - the Mighty Nein.





	Demons (Don't) Lie

_The fire from the wall sconces shone a dim light around the chamber, reflecting off the damp stone._ __  
__  
_A tiefling knelt in the center of the chamber, black viscous blood oozing from gashes in skin of a burnt sienna color. His torso was laid bare, revealing a number of scars, some deeper than others. Three gold rings encircled each of his horns, the dark red bone-like formations swooping back from his forehead before curling up and jutting out forward, coming to a sharp point several inches past his head. A golden amulet, the symbol of the goddess Ioun, rested on his chest spattered with crimson blood that was not his own, the same that ran down him in rivulets, the same that coated the silver serrated blade on his tail tip and the obsidian scimitars on either side of him, emanating a faint violet glow from where they laid. His head was down, strands of black hair having escaped from his messy bun during the battle. His breathing was labored, black eyes unfocused, clouded over with pain and perhaps a hint of madness._ __  
__  
_From what looked like a black hole on his back protruded the torso of a figure that towered over him, leathery, oily skin - fur? feathers? the exact material of it escaped description - stretched taut over bones that jutted out at sharp angles, a dark mist emanating from it and the black-violet tentacles attached to its form. Its head was like the skull of a bird, some kind of shadowy sludge that looked suspiciously like black blood threatening to drip off of its hooked beak. Razor sharp, dagger-like claws pressed at least an inch into the tiefling's shoulders, the scars in that area displaying that this was not an infrequent occurrence._ __  
__  
_Six individuals stood around the tiefling, weapons out, with varying degrees of injury - a dwarven male, a succubus, a kitsune, a short lavender tiefling, and two tall individuals of wood elf heritage - the male a full elf, the female a half-elf._ __  
__  
_The half-elf woman stepped forward hesitantly, shortsword at the ready should the tiefling before her pick up the scimitars lying beside him._ __  
__  
_"It's over," she said, her voice pained, thick with restrained emotion. "You will let him go."_ __  
__  
_It was not a request._ __  
__  
_A chuckle echoed out, bouncing off the stone walls. The tiefling spoke, two voices as one, "You do not have the power to break his contact, mortal." The harsh scratchiness of the demon's voice paired with the tiefling's smooth timbre was strange, grating on the ears of those who heard it._ __  
__  
_"His contract has been completed. His soul is forfeit."_ __  
__  
_Quick as a striking cobra, a clawed hand dislodged itself from one of the tiefling's shoulders and plunged into his back._ __  
__  
_A strangled cry left him, eyes blown wide with pain and fear._ __  
__  
_Blood bubbled from his mouth as he coughed, and wheezed, and the hand around his heart squeezed, squeezed, squeezed-_ __  
__  
_There was a sharp tug and a grotesque tearing sound, and he fell forward, darkness quickly overtaking his mind, the words of the half-elf echoing out through the chamber._ __  
__  
_"Kairo! No!"_  
  
_He was gone before he hit the floor._

* * *

Kairo awoke sluggishly, light already filtering through the windows in his quarters. He rolled over onto his back with a soft groan, and a twinge of pain in his chest woke him up the rest of the way. He shot up, ice-cold panic coursing through his veins for but a moment before he allowed himself to relax, the pain passing. A soft exhale of relief left him, and he swung his legs to the side of the bed, standing with a hiss as his knee popped. After taking a moment to stretch, he threw on a some clean clothes and quietly exited the room. He took special care to avoid Captain Avantika’s quarters, not wanting to incur her wrath for a second time in as many days should she be in there.

He’d returned from the island yesterday, having scouted one half while Jamedi scouted the other. The undead bastard hadn’t returned yet, and so Kairo had been the one to answer for that. He wasn’t even sure why she decided to hire the other man, he could’ve done just fine. He’d done perfectly well on his own before, coming back from scouting missions relatively unscathed. But supposedly this one felt “different” to Avantika, whatever that meant.

Either way, he had found nothing save for some yuan-ti and lizardmen, so he had returned to the ship to get some rest and wait for Jamedi to return.

He found his way to the deck, blinded for a moment by the sunlight. A few of the crew nodded as he passed them by, heading for the bow of the ship. Once he made it there, the pain in his chest returned briefly, pulling a few coughs from him. He leaned over the railing, spitting blood out into the water and wiping his mouth, a light frown touching his features.

Kairo sighed, one hand gripping the railing as he looked out over the expanse of water before him, the other clutching the amulet of Ioun he wore around his neck. His thumb rubbed against the engraved symbol on the back of the amulet, a circle with an arrow jutting upward diagonally from it. A reminder of who he was, a reminder of the life - the world - he left behind.  
  
Not for the first time, he wondered what had become of his friends. Particularly, as he looked out on the ocean, the water genasi he had once thought of as his little sister. The young pirate captain who made a name for herself, a name that put fear in the hearts of any who crossed paths with her - The Leviathan. Similar to Captain Avantika in many ways, if he were being honest.  
  
"Mars?"  
  
Kairo turned his head at the sound of the alias he had once more been using, the name having rolled off his tongue the moment he met Avantika, easy as breathing. Well, it was a position - a title - he had earned, and he was not about to squander that, even if none from this realm knew its significance.  
  
“Captain,” he greeted, the word coming out a bit harsher than he had intended. It seemed he was still a bit… put off from their encounter the day before. Or perhaps it was just his concern with his own problems getting the better of him now. He wasn’t sure. He turned back to watch the approaching ship, seeing it narrowly avoid parts of the reef, possibly scraping just a bit.

Avantika let out a sigh, coming to stand next to him now, a hand resting on his own.

He made no move to pull it away.

“I'm sorry, Mars,” she said, voice low, the ship beginning to gain speed, moving toward the one navigating its way through the reef. It seemed she had handed off the wheel to someone else in order to come talk to him, which was unusual on its own. But for her to apologize? That was practically unheard of. “For how I spoke to you last night. You did not deserve that, least of all from me. We have worked hard to build trust. I do not wish for that trust to be broken again.”

_Again._

He let out a huff, a half-hearted humorless laugh. “Nor do I,” he said, glancing down at her for a moment before fixing his eyes on the other ship - which he now recognized as the Mist, though the name plastered on the side labeled it the Mistake.

“Would you like me to remain on the ship with you and send Bouldergut, or would you prefer I go to meet them?” he asked after a beat.

“Send Bouldergut,” Avantika replied, pushing off the railing and issuing the command to fire a warning shot. “I may need you here.”

Kairo nodded and sprung to action, calling to the ogre and giving her Avantika’s directions.

It didn’t take long for Bouldergut, Vera, and a couple others to make their way to the Mistake, some of the crew from the other ship loading onto the rowboats and heading for the Squall Eater.

Kairo watched as the group climbed aboard the ship. He muttered a couple words in Abyssal, his eyes narrowed on Jawgrasp, focusing through the illusion with the help of one of the rings around his horns. It was a new addition, activated by a phrase he had chosen, a gift from the elven captain herself that replaced one of the older bands that had previously adorned him.

He came up to stand beside Avantika, a hand ghosting up her spine from the small of her back for a brief moment before he crossed his arms over his chest. His way of warning her of a problem without alerting anyone else.

He could feel the eyes of some of the crew on him. He knew many of them thought they were sleeping together - and they had, occasionally - but their relationship was not romantic. They were close, certainly, and once upon a time he may have been interested in her that way. But he was here to do a job, and that was exactly what he intended on doing. No distractions.

Kairo tuned out the conversation mostly, simply standing there looking intimidating. He could feel the wandering eyes on him, the blue tiefling and the ginger human man - Sapphire and Phillip, they had called themselves - in particular seeming the most interested in him.

“And how did this terrible, terrible thing happen to you..?”

As Avantika’s hand passed through the illusion as Kairo knew it would, he tensed, ready to summon one - if not both - of his scimitars to him

“I must commend you,” Avantika began, her tone casual, “It has been a very long time since someone has been so bold, with such massive balls to come onto my ship and think that perhaps I got where I am today not by seeing through a few… paltry illusions.”

“Well, I must commend you on your perceptiveness. My balls are… quite large.” As the half-orc finished speaking, he dropped the illusion.

Kairo choked back a laugh, passing it off as just a slight cough, looking away from the newcomers for just a moment - casting his eyes downward as if to ask his patron for strength - as the sound of multiple firearms cocking filled the air.

Avantika seemed to smile a little, standing in front of the small group, arms crossed, Kairo standing beside her in more or less the same position. “Well,” she said, “I guess now that we are… out in the open… Who the fuck are you? And how did you come in the possession of the Mist?”

“Now that is a wonderful story, and one that I would love to share. You have the honor of being in the company of the Mighty Nein.”

Kairo raised an eyebrow at the half-orc’s words, and he and Avantika spoke as one: “But there are only seven of you.”

A pause, then the half-orc spoke again, “It’s a long story. But I'm afraid we won’t be able to tell it or further converse unless we have an atmosphere of equal exchange, here. And this hostile act is… not a step in the right direction, Captain.”

Avantika damn near chuckled at that. “So, you are the captain of that ship. Are you suggesting that we, ah, parlay?”

At the borderline-seductive tone she used, Kairo let out a long, quiet, drawn-out breath and rolled his eyes.

“Yes.” The human woman, Tracy, spoke up, earning the attention of the other ship’s temporary captain, and in a rather loud, not-quite-stage-whisper, said, “Say yes, Fjord, say yes.”

Fjord, the half-orc, did just that.

“Very well,” Avantika purred. “Well, since you’ve been so forthright Tracy, Phillip…” She turned her head, looking at each in turn as she said the names they had given, “Sapphire, Cornelius, Janet, and Gilligan.”

A beat, and she continued, “Welcome aboard the Squall Eater. I am Captain Avantika. And this…” Here she gestured to Kairo, who simply gave the group a curt not as way of greeting, “Is Mars.”

Looks of confusion passed over a few of the newcomers’ faces at his seeming lack of title despite his apparent importance.

“Now, the fact that you are here, that you made your way across the reef, that you managed to best our sister ship and the crew onboard - which I assume have all been dispatched?”

“Indeed,” Fjord confirmed.

Movement caught Kairo’s eye, and he focused his attention on the group behind Fjord, watching Phillip look behind them back toward the Mist - which looked as though it had sank a foot or so more beneath the waves - and Tracy look up, searching for something, before Phillip kinda patted her arm to grab her attention and gave her a thumbs up, his eyes glazed over momentarily.

Huh. Interesting.

“Well, then my next question is, what are you planning here? Why have you gone through all of this trouble to kill my crew, to bring the ship right back to me and then, ah, to be perfectly honest, prostrate yourselves before us?” Avantika spoke once more, reclaiming Kairo’s attention.

Her confusion and disbelief at the situation was palpable, and Kairo couldn’t help but feel the same. Were these people merely stupid? Or was there something else at play?

His money was on the latter. With possibly a tinge of the former.

“Well I imagine there must be a hefty reward for the item you seek. We went through great troubles just to acquire it.”

Avantika perked up a bit at that, just slightly, but enough for Kairo to know that she was now truly involving herself in the situation. “Do you know the purpose of this item?” she questioned.

“Yep,” was the utter bullshit reply.

Avantika breaks into an acknowledging smile. “Interesting…” she muttered. Louder, “Well, you've proven that you are talented at least to have survived this far, but I'm a bigger fan of… loyalty.” A moment passed before she spoke again. “Talent and loyalty? Well that is obviously my birthday. As it stands, the Mighty Nein, there are two paths you can walk. You, one, could live under the crew and prove yourselves as both skilled and as trustworthy as I hope you may be, if our goals are indeed aligned. Perhaps even join us if the deeds please me. Or two, we weigh your corpses down with rocks, and leave you here amongst the reef.”

It was Sapphire’s turn now, it seemed, her voice tinged with concern. “Those are the, uh, only options there?”

Avantika took on a more condescending tone as she replied, “I'm afraid so, little Sapphire.”

“...Cool.”

Kairo let himself zone out for a bit, watching as the newly-branded Mistake sank just a little further, moving ever-closer to the shore. His tail flicked lazily, careful not to hit anyone with the serrated blade attached to it, noting that several of the Mighty Nein kept their gazes trained on the blade as it glinted in the sunlight. He wasn’t sure if that was fear or awe in their eyes, but he let a small, satisfied smirk crawl up onto his features at the realization that it was probably their first time ever seeing such an extreme body modification. He was no stranger to altering his appearance, having also gained many more tattoos over the years he’d been on Avantika’s crew, several of which were arcane runes imbued with touches of power. But the tail blade was certainly his most… ambitious.

As the small group gathered to discuss the options placed in front of them, Phillip’s and Fjord’s eyes occasionally darting over to him, he found himself hoping they wouldn't try to fight. The group as a whole was far too… interesting.

And, much to his surprise, it seemed his prayers were answered.

“We graciously accept,” Fjord said, stepping forward and extending a hand. Avantika took it, smiling.

“Mars?”

Kairo snapped his gaze over to her, ignoring the cracking of his neck as he turned his head.

“Yes, Captain?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Take our new friends down to their quarters,” she said simply. “One of them will be rooming with you, since we only have a few available.”

Kairo clenched his jaw, irritation washing over him a moment before a voice entered his mind, harsh but familiar and strangely soothing, like the crackling of a fire.

**_Feel the emotion and let it pass - we cannot afford to lose our cool now._ **

He let out a shaking breath and plastered a smile on his face. “Of course,” he said and motioned for the group to follow.

“I'll let you all get settled in, I'll call for you later. That means you too, Mars.”

Once Kairo was below deck, he let out an audible groan.

“Look,” he said as he walked, keeping his voice low, just loud enough for the entire group to hear. “A word of advice? Don't try to bullshit her. It won’t work.”

“Well obviously you just haven't tried-”

Kairo whirled around, causing the entire group to pause. His black eyes found the shortest member, the one who had spoken. “Trust me, I’ve tried damn near everything. Practically nothing gets past her. I'm just warning you - listen or don’t, it’s your funeral.”

He sighed and turned, gesturing toward the three doors to his right. “Each room will fit two. Now, who’s gonna be with me?”

There was a moment of silence as they all exchanged looks, and for a moment it seemed as if Fjord was going to step forward, but instead Phillip spoke up.

“I’ll do it,” he said, with only a hint of reluctance.

“Caleb-!”

Phillip - no, Caleb, apparently - turned to the small one, shushing her. “I'll be fine.”

There was a brief moment as everyone figured out rooming situations, Kairo waiting for that to complete itself, and once it was just him and Caleb in the hallway, he motioned for the man to follow him.

The moment he got to his room he relaxed visibly, closing the door quietly behind Caleb as he began to speak, taking note of the already-placed bed on the opposite side of the room from his own.

“Left side of the room is mine, yours is the right,” Kairo said easily, his voice sliding out of the gruff, raspy tone he used around the crew and into his natural velvety smooth, playful, almost seductive low timbre that he only ever used nowadays when he was alone or with a single other person. “I won’t try to kill you in your sleep, as long as you show me the same courtesy.” He walked over to his own bed, unbuttoning his shirt so he could put on a different one along with a few elements of his studded leather armor. Just in case.

He stripped off the light material, listening intently to Caleb’s position in the room as he had his back to the man, putting the large scorch mark/black hole thing - he still wasn’t sure what exactly to call it, typically settling for simply the Mark or the Void - on his back on full display, as well as a number of tattoos and scars, one of which was worse than the others. The center of the mark, which seemed to shift occasionally as if it was its own living thing, was like an endless void stretching into another plane, a constant shadowy mist filtering from it. If one could reach into it, they could easily reach straight through to his heart and-

**_No, it’s best not to travel down that road._ **

A circle of runes was inked around it, pulsating with a faint glow every now and again.

The most notable scar was a deep one, about three inches in length and one inch in width, its twin directly opposite on his stomach, just above and adjacent to his belly button from when he'd been run through with a sword.

It was best not to dwell on that either, he decided, grabbing another shirt from the dresser and carefully guiding it over his horns before pulling it down the rest of the way. He grabbed some of his armor from the locked chest at the foot of his bed, softly uttering a word in Abyssal to open it, and another when he closed it to lock it once more.

“So, Caleb,” Kairo said easily, sitting on his bed and beginning to put on a few elements of his armor, glancing up to see the other man had moved to the other side of the room, slowly dealing with his possessions. At the sound of his real name, his head snapped over, beautiful blue eyes fixed on Kairo.

Wait- what?

“You’re a mage, yes?” Kairo asked, curious, having made note of the lack of weapons. Though, to be fair, he also had a lack of weapons on him. He could use magic as well, though, so really his assumption wasn’t too terrible.

“Of sorts,” Caleb replied, not looking up from what he was doing, “I've learned everything I know from books.”

A light smile tugged at Kairo’s lips. “A wizard, then?”

Caleb nodded. “ _Ja._ ”

Kairo cocked his head to the side, an expression of curiosity passing over his features. “Pardon my directness, but ah… what language…?”

Caleb laughed a little at that, and Kairo decided then and there that he liked the man’s laugh. It was tentative, quiet, but genuine.

“It’s Zemnian,” Caleb said. “I am, ah… not from here.”

Kairo looked at the floor. It wavered, shifting, and for a moment he was back in Neidar, in Endarcil, at the Siren’s Roost talking and laughing with Scarlett. But when he glanced up, it was just his room, with Caleb sitting on the bed opposite him. “Guess that makes two of us." 

A beat, then, “Where are you from, Mars? You have a rather… ambiguous accent, and I cannot quite place it. Or are you hiding your true one still?”

Kairo raised an eyebrow. This guy was perceptive, catching just the slightest lilting of the accent in his words. He didn’t much care for that.

“I am from… very far away,” he supplied, dodging the question, finishing with the last buckle on the bits of armor he was putting on, reaching back to check that the back of his neck was indeed covered. He’d had to deal with nearly getting his head cut off by new crew members before, he didn’t want to go through that again.

Reaching down, he brushed aside the long hair - more like fur, really - that grew over his hooves, much like that of a draft horse, skin changing to fur about half way down his calves. It was a smooth fade, he made sure of that, trimming the fur when necessary. He fiddled with the leather strappings and padding he wore as a makeshift boot in order to muffle his hooves, making sure they were tightened.

“You, ah, you have um… hooves?”

Kairo glanced up, Caleb’s eyes boring into him, fixed on the hoof with the boot he was currently messing with. “Yeah,” he said lamely. “Is it… uncommon for tieflings here to have them?” He hadn't noticed if the blue tiefling had them or not.

“I've never met one that did,” was the response.

_Well… That’s great, yet another reason for me to be standing out._

“Interesting,” Kairo muttered, “In Ne- ah, where I come from, it is commonplace.”

The silence stretched out again, lasting for a good few minutes this time before Caleb spoke, shattering it.

“On the way down here, it sounded like… like you have been on the other side of that exchange up on the- the deck?”

“I wasn’t always a member of Avantika’s crew,” Kairo said. “I came to her in… well, not _quite_ the same way as you - for one, I didn’t steal a ship and pretend to be its captain - but it was similar enough. Over the years we’ve had our differences, trying to hide things from each other. I'm rather… good at deception, but even I have issues occasionally. Very little gets past the Captain.”

They fell into a more or less companionable silence, Caleb getting himself settled, occasionally speaking hushed words into his hands, and Kairo sitting on the floor beside his bed, eyes closed and head down, meditating. It was something he did rather often nowadays, aligning himself once more so that the arcane energy thrumming through his body didn’t get set off balance. After all, little-known magics can be rather… volatile. Especially those of the reality-altering type that had sent him to this plane - this universe - in the first place.

He opened his eyes as he heard footsteps approaching the door, and stood, stretching, just as there was a knock from the other side.

“The Cap’n wants ta see ya,” filtered through the door, and Kairo listened to the footsteps retreat.

“I suppose that’s our cue?” Caleb guessed.

Kairo nodded. “Let’s go grab your friends, and see what Avantika has to say.”

They left the room, Kairo locking it behind them, and as they went to fetch the rest of the Mighty Nein he let himself get lost in thought, walking through the halls of the ship on autopilot. There was no doubt in his mind that Avantika would speak to them of Uk’otoa, of her ambitions, and that she would have him tell of his own patron, his own pact that he did not yet fully grasp.

**_If you require me, I am here._ **

The voice echoed through his mind and he watched a couple of the runes tattooed on his arms flicker to life, like the beginnings of a flame, before extinguishing themselves once more.

_I just might._

**_Just say the word, and I will supply what you need._ **

He was distracted throughout the conversation with Avantika, not paying much attention to the situation at hand, trying instead to figure out how to explain his own… abilities. So when Avantika said his name, he jerked his head up, having just been pulled from his thoughts.

“Sorry Captain, what was that?”

She muttered something under her breath before saying louder, “I said, how about you tell them of your… experiences with your own patron. To instill some confidence.”

Kairo sighed, pushing off of his place against Avantika’s desk, eyes glancing over each individual in the room, and when he spoke, he spoke in his natural voice, all false intimidation and bravado pushed down for the time being, beginning with three simple words:

“He killed me.”


End file.
